Morgan Stanley just compared Japan's ambitious economic program to one of the greatest tragic novels of all time

Abenomics, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's three-part
economics program, was implemented with the intention of
reversing decades of stagnation.

As soon as Abe got back to office in 2012, he launched the
program's three "arrows," including monetary stimulus, fiscal
stimulus, and structural economic reform.

However, Japan still hasn't quite managed to bounce back.

In light of that, Morgan Stanley economist Robert Alan Feldman
argued that the Abenomics "story" has changed over the last
several years — going from "Beauty and the Beast" to "Anna
Karenina."

Hold on — we'll explain.

He writes that the Abenomics of 2013-15 was analogous to the
"heroines" in fairy tales like "Beauty and the Beast," who
"emerge, and rescue the economy [aka the hero] from stagnation."

But now, he says, it looks like the Abenomics story more
resembles tragedies like "Anna Karenina" or "Othello,"
where the hero/economy has a "fatal flaw" — in this case, vested
interests that overcome the reform initiatives — that is "too
powerful, and leads to destruction."

"Abenomics is in trouble. Many investors have lost confidence in
the 'Rebirth' story of 2013-2015. Rather, the dominant story has
now reverted to 'Tragedy,'" he wrote in a note.

It's quite a loaded metaphor. But if you're interested, check out
the neat chart he included to explain his thought process.